Vibratory compactor with guard blade leveler

ABSTRACT

A vibratory compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate with an upwardly inclined front face portion. The front face has spoil relief openings above the level of the bottom plate and a blade extending ahead of the compactor. The blade functions to pre-level heaped-up material to be compacted. The lower edge of the blade is spaced above the bottom plate but is below the level of the spoil relief openings. Accordingly, the blade functions as a guard to shield the openings against inflow of spoil through the opening and into the compactor, but does not impede outflow of spoil out through the openings and into the path of compactor travel.

United States Patent [191 I Maass VIBRATORY COMPACTOR WITH GUARD BLADE LEVELER [75] Inventor: Helmut A. Maass, West Bend, Wis.

[73] Assignee: M & M Enterprises Inc., Slinger,

Wis.

22 Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 244,525

[52] U.S. Cl. 404/113, 404/133 [51] Int. Cl. E01c 19/34 [58] Field of Search 404/113, 133, 102

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,262,378 7/1966 Schrimper et a1. 404/102 X 2,646,729 7/1953 Godenir 404/113 2,847,917 8/1958 Heer et a1. 404/102 3,088,384 5/1963 Heer et a1. 404/102 2,737,094 3/1956 Jackson 404/113 2,771,012 11/1956 Jackson 404/113 3,199,424 8/1965 Glass 404/1 13 [1'11 3,806,269 [45.1 Apr. 23, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 325,376 11/1957 Switzerland 404/113 Primary Examinew-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Thomas J. Holko Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Joseph P. House, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A vibratory compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate with an upwardly inclined front face portion. The front face has spoil relief openings above the Compactor travel.

. 11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures VIBRATOI .COMPACTOR WITH GUARD BLADE LEVELER BACKGROUND. OF THE INVENTION A vibratory compactor with spoil relief openings in the upwardlyinclined front face wall of the shoe is on the market. However, when this compactor is used to compact heaped up uneven material, such material may. be at a level higher than the spoil relief openings and thus enter the compactor through the spoil openings. Excessive amounts of spoil inside the compactor may interfere with the operation of the belt drive to the vibratory .exciter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It .is an important object of the present invention to provide a compactor such as that previously described with a guard blade ;projectingforwardly of the compactor and in shielding.relationshipto"the spoil relief openings. The blade functions to .pre-level uneven and heaped-up material and also shields the spoiltrelief openings againstinflowof spoil through the relief openings and into the compactor.

In accordance with the present invention the blade is fastened securely to the vibratory tampingshoetopartake of its vibratory motion. In this manner the blade will function to break up frozen and like agglomerations of uncompacted material heaped up in front of the compactor and spread such material evenly ahead of the machine for compaction beneath the tamping shoe. The blade is desirably shaped with a lip or flange at its bottom edge which extends downwardly. Accordingly, the lip or flange acts upon the material which is undergoing pre-leveling.

The upper edge of the blade is desirably provided with aforwardly and upwardly extending flange or lip which also vibrates with the tamping shoe and functions in the manner of a moldboard to throw material forwardly of the compactor and block it against overflow into the compactoraframe. Accordingly, the vibration .of the blade and its respective lips contributes to the operation thereof. v

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will :appear from the disclosure hereof. I

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED.

EMBODIMENT Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. The scope of the invention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

The compactor comprises a tamping shoe 10, a vibratory exciter 11, an engine 12 and a handle 13.Engine 12 is provided with a drive pulley l4which is coupled by a belt 15 with a driven pulley 16 on theshaft l7of the eccentric weight 18 of the vibratory exciter 11.

The tamping shoe 10 comprises a fiat bottom plate 21 which may have an upwardly and rearwardly oblique rear portion 22, an upwardly and forwardly oblique front face or wall portion 23 and-a shallowly inclined intermediate plate portion 24. On its uppersurface the bottom plate 21 is provided with a long rearward cross rib 25. Intermediate plateportion 24 is provided with ashorter forward cross rib 26. Ribs 25, 26 provide sturdy supports upon which the vibratory exciter 11 is mounted by means of the bolts 27.

In the preferred embodiment,- oblique front wall 23 of the tamping shoe 10 is'disposed at about a 45 angle to bottom plate 21 and is provided at its upper edge with one or more laterally elongated spoil relief openings 28. .As the compactor vibrates in its forward .mode

any spoil which gets inside ofthecompactor and on top of shoe 10 will flow forwardly along the shoe, up'the incline ofoblique wall 23 and out through the spoil relief openings 28, thus tofall in advance of the movement ofthe compactor and be incorporated in the compacted 'material beneath the shoe. j V The compactor is provided at its front with a blade 31 which is attached rigidly, as by welding, bolting, etc., to the upper edge 32 of front wall .23 of shoe l0 and is alsoattached in the same manner rigidly to the forward edges 33 of the compactor side walls 34.

The blade 31 spans across and closes theotherwise open sides of openings 28. Blade 31 is inc'lined'oppositely to the incline of front face 23. Blade 31 partakes of the vibratory motion of the shoe 10, because of its rigid connection thereto.

Blade 31 is desirably provided at its lower edge with a downwardly projecting flange or lip 35; Lip 35 can extend downwardly in a vertical plane, or as shown in the drawings at arearwardly oblique angle. At its upper edge blade 31 may have a forwardly and upwardly pro jecting lip 36. In the illustrated embodiment the blade 31 and the flanges 35, 36 together have a Z-shaped cross section and lips 35, 36 are approximately parallel to each other and to the upwardly and forwardly projecting oblique 'front face 23 of shoe l0.

Blade 31 has multiple functions. As it projects ahead of the compactor it serves to pre-level or spread out heaped-up material in 'the path of the compactor, thus reducing uneven loads on the compactor and preconditions or pre-treats the material for ultimate even compaction under the tamping shoe 10. As illustrated in FIG. 2, uneven or heaped-up material 37 is struckoff by the lip 35 so that its height when encountered by the front face 23 of the tamping shoe 10 is uniform and relatively low.

Inasmuch as the blade 31 and its flanges 35, 36 vibrate with the tamping shoe 10, frozen, compacted or agglomerated spoil or material ahead of the compactor will tend to be'broken up and reduced to discrete fragments by the vibrating blade 31 and lip 35, thus facilitating its uniformcompaction beneath the shoe 10.

The portions of blade 31 which project forwardly of the spoil relief openings 28 shield or guard the openings frominflow of spoil through the openings 28 and into the interior of the compactor. Accordingly, spoil 38 already inside the compactor may continue to be discharged forwardly through the openings 28, even though the compactor is operating through heaped-up material which would otherwise clog the spoil relief openings 28. Accordingly, the relief openings 28 function under all conditions of machine operation. For this purpose it is advantageous that the lower edge of lip 35 is below the level of the relief openings 28 and above the level of the bottom plate 21 of the shoe 10.

Upper lip 36 on blade 31 functions as a moldboard to throw material forwardly in the event the compactor is thrust into a hill of material which would otherwise tend to overflow the blade and inundate the compactor.

Inasmuch as the forward support rib 26 inside the compactor is shorter than the spacing between the side walls 34 thereof, flow paths, as indicated by arrows 40, permit spoil 38 inside the compactor to flow around the ends of the ribs 26 and up the slope of forward wall 23 and out the relief openings 28. Thus, there are no barriers to flow on paths 40.

l claim: v

1. in a compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined face with a spoil relief opening above the level of the bottom plate, the improvement for pre-leveling material to be compacted and shielding said spoil relief opening against clogging and comprising a blade which extends ahead of the compactor, said blade having a lower edge spaced above said plate, said blade being disposed ahead of said opening to create a void in the spoil ahead of the opening and into which spoil inside the compactor can flow forwardly and out of the compactor and to shield said opening against spoil flow rearwardly through the opening and into the compactor.

2. The compactor of claim 1 in which the lower edge of the blade is below said spoil relief opening.

3. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening and extending below the bottom of the opening to create a void in the spoil ahead of the opening and into which spoil inside the compactor can flow forwardly and out of the compactor and to shield said relief opening againstspoil flow rearwardly through said opening and into the compactor.

4. The compactor of claim 3 in which said blade has an obliquely extending lip at its lower edge.

5. The compactor of claim 3 in which the upwardly inclined front face of the shoe is disposed at an angle of approximately 45 with the bottom plate.

6. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening to shield said relief opening against spoil flow through said opening and into the compactor, said relief opening being formed at the leading edge of said upwardly inclined front face of the shoe, said blade being disposed against said leading edge to close the leading edge of said opening.

7. The compactor of claim 3 in which said compactor is provided with a vibratory exciter for the shoe, said blade being fastened to the shoe to vibrate therewith.

8. The compactor of claim 3 in which there are a plurality of such spoil relief openings aligned laterally of the compactor and formed in said upwardly inclined front face of the shoe.

9. The compactor of claim 3 in which said blade is Z- shaped in cross section with a downwardly and rearwardly extending lipat its lower edge and an upwardly and forwardly extending lip along its upper edge.

10. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening to shield said relief opening against spoil flow through said opening and into the compactor, said compactor having side walls, said bottom plate being provided with a forward cross mounting rib for a vibratory exicter, said cross rib being shorter than the spacing between said side walls whereby to provide flow paths between the ends of the rib and the compactor side walls for spoil along the shoe and out of the compactor through said relief opening.

11. A compactor having side walls, a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face approximately at a 45 angle to said plate, a spoil relief opening in said face, a vibratory exciter for the shoe, a forward exciter mounting cross rib on the upper surface of the shoe, said cross rib being shorter than the spacing between said side walls to provide a flow path for spoil around the rib and out through said relief opening. 

1. In a compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined face with a spoil relief opening above the level of the bottom plate, the improvement for pre-leveling material to be compacted and shielding said spoil relief opening against clogging and comprising a blade which extends ahead of the compactor, said blade having a lower edge spaced above said plate, said blade being disposed ahead of said opening to create a void in the spoil ahead of the opening and into which spoil inside the compactor can flow forwardly and out of the compactor and to shield said opening against spoil flow rearwardly through the opening and into the compactor.
 2. The compactor of claim 1 in which the lower edge of the blade is below said spoil relief opening.
 3. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening and extending below the bottom of the opening to create a void in the spoil ahead of the opening and into which spoil inside the compactor can flow forwardly and out of the compactor and to shield said relief opening against spoil flow rearwardly through said opening and into the compactor.
 4. The compactor of claim 3 in which said blade has an obliquely extending lip at its lower edge.
 5. The compactor of claim 3 in which the upwardly inclined front face of the shoe is disposed at an angle of approximately 45* with the bottom plate.
 6. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening to shield said relief opening against spoil flow through said opening and into the compactor, said relief opening being formed at the leading edge of said upwardly inclined front face of the shoe, said blade being disposed against said leading edge to close the leading edge of said opening.
 7. The compactor of claim 3 in which said compactor is provided with a vibratory exciter for the shoe, said blade being fastened to the shoe to vibrate therewith.
 8. The compactor of claim 3 in which there are a plurality of such spoil relief openings aligned laterally of the compactor and formed in said upwardly inclined front face of the shoe.
 9. The compactor of claim 3 in which said blade is Z-shaped in cross section with a downwardly and rearwardly extending lip at its lower edge and an upwardly and forwardly extending lip along its upper edge.
 10. A compactor having a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face, a spoil relief opening in said front face and above the level of the bottom plate, and a blade extending forwardly of the relief opening to shield said relief opening against spoil flow through said opening and into the compactor, said compactor having side walls, said bottom plate being provided with a forward cross mounting rib for a vibratory exicter, said cross rib being shorter than the spacing between said side walls whereby to provide flow paths between the ends of the rib and the compactor side walls for spoil along the shoe and out of the compactor through said relief opening.
 11. A compactor having side walls, a tamping shoe with a bottom plate and an upwardly inclined front face approximately at a 45* angle to said plate, a spoil relief opening in said face, a vibratory exciter for the shoe, a forward exciter mounting cross rib on the upper surface of the shoe, said cross rib being shorter than the spacing between said side walls to provide a flow path for spoil around the rib and out through said relief opening. 